Songbird
by Victoria Hunter
Summary: When Naru makes friends with Sasuke before she does and supposedly betrays her, something inside Sakura snaps and she pours all her rage onto Naru. Faced with the hatred of her best friend and the world around her, Naru breaks inside and after the massacre Sasuke is broken too. Put onto the same team all 3 must learn how to connect again without fear of deception. FemNaruto.


**Songbird**

**AN – I know the Uchiha massacre takes place when Sasuke is 6 but in my story it happens when he is 8 and I can't remember when they all started academy in the canon but in my story they'll start when they're all 9, okay? Copy and paste the links in the story to see a pic of what the scene/outfit would look like! Oh, and I hope you enjoy my story! **** V x**

A 7 year old Naruto ran a brush through a 7 year old Sakura's silky pink locks. "You're so gentle when you brush my hair, Naru!" The pinkette said.

"Yeah, it's just your hair is so lovely and mine isn't!" Naruto finished flatly, fingering her own dirty blonde mess. "Oh, Naru! If only you brushed it, don't you have any brushes at home?"

Sakura meant well but was unaware of how close to the mark she was. "I don't _have a home_" Naruto said sadly, thinking the last part in her head.

Sakura looked taken back but then smiled. "How about I get my mum take us shopping, my treat? We can get you some different…" she motioned to the muddy, tattered clothes Naruto wore "…clothes and other products."

Naruto grinned "Thank you, Saki!" She lunged forward, enveloping the girl in a hug. Naru glanced at Sakura's watch and seeing the time, gasped.

"Saki! Look at the time, you've got to be home soon!" She exclaimed. "Oh, yeah, I best be going then…" Sakura said vacantly, truth be told she had asked to be out a little longer so she could tail Naruto home.

That girl never went home the same way twice and she wanted to find out why. Naruto had never told Sakura about not having a home or family to go back to.

They bid their goodbyes, hugged and agreed to meet in the park the next day. Sakura turned away, supposedly making her way home but when Naruto disappeared round the corner, she launched into a run to catch up.

Naruto sighed, last night she had found a comfy spot to rest but come morning, the villagers found her, chasing her away. She knew why they hated her and quite frankly she didn't give a damn.

Kyuubi had been like a big brother to her, consoling her when she was sad but flat out bugging her with stupid and annoying comments. **"Oi! I can hear you thinking, remember?" **Kyuu said sarcastically and rather smugly from in the mindscape.

Mentally, Naruto stuck her tongue out at him, not noticing she had walked to a pier with a black haired boy sitting at the end. Unknowingly, she wandered to the edge grumbling about 'stupid foxes' and cursing about 'annoying brothers'.

The black haired boy's eyes swerved towards the intruder of his peace. Just catching the end of her mumbling he said "I know how you feel…"

Naruto glanced down to the boy sat on the edge of the pier, legs dangling, next to a pile of pebbles "What?" she asked, confused.

"Brothers" he replied "I have one too, they are quite irritating at the best of times." Naru, catching on, said "Yeah!" She sat down next him and grabbed a pebble, throwing it far across the lake.

"Wow! That's an impressive arm you got there, I'm Sasuke, Sasuke Uchiha, by the way" Sasuke said mesmerised by the still skipping rock that had a hint of red surrounding it.

"Your good too, I want to be really strong when I'm older so I practice all the time, and also I'm Naruto Uzumaki or Naru for short!" Naru said cheerfully.

The name Sasuke Uchiha finally registered in her mind and she remembered Sakura wanting to be his friend.

"Hey, do you know a Sakura Haruno?" She asked. Sasuke winced at hearing the name, that girl was continually trying to be his friend by screaming in his ear about how cool they both were. (Remember, they're only 7 so Sakura just want Sasuke to be her friend at this point , not marry her! )

"Yeah, I know her alright" Sasuke said, curious as to why Naru had asked. "Well she's not my friend, she's my best friend and she's always going on about how she wants to be your friend so I was wondering if…"

Naruto looked a little sheepish "…Well maybe you could come hang out with us tomorrow at the park, it would make her so happy!" Sasuke took one look at her puppy dog eyes and caved in immediately.

"Alright, can you come and get me in the morning to take me to the park?" Sasuke asked. Naruto looked unsure for a second before replying. "Well, erm, I don't know where you live…"

Sasuke laughed at her embarrassed face "Ugh, you're so annoying, unlike Sakura!" Naru exclaimed.

He suggested that she come round now to see where to go in the morning. Naruto agreed and the two left, smiling about finding a new friend.

( . )

Sakura could only hear parts of the conversation but this is about what she got "I want to be…chucking a rock at…Sakura Haruno…She's not my friend…She's always going about…Where you live…You're so annoying…Sakura!"

She was so upset, how could her supposedly best friend say such mean things about her, even worse Sasuke didn't even defend her and now they were walking back to Sasuke's house smiling like the best of friends.

Sakura felt like she was about to cry but then thinking over it anger and rage took over her. She now hated Naru and tomorrow she was gonna show just how 'annoying' she could be!

Sasuke felt strangely at peace with Naru by his side as they walked in silence to the Uchiha district. When they arrived Sasuke called out "Mother, father, Itachi, I'm home!"

Mikoto poked her head round the corner and gasped when she saw Naru who was looking rather uncomfortable, shifting from one foot to the other.

Naru's stomach dropped to her toes and her heart leapt to her throat all at the same time at the thought of Sasuke's mother hating her for Kyuu - just like everyone else.

Her eyes prickled with tears but she couldn't tear her gaze away from the female Uchiha who stared at her unabashedly.

"Sasuke…" Mikoto said in a warning tone, not wanting her youngest son to turn out like his brother "What did I tell you about only bringing females home if it's by their own will?"

Naruto felt her nervousness and fear ebb away only to be replaced with shock at Sasuke's mother getting the wrong idea.

"Oh don't worry Mrs Uchiha, Sasuke only invited me here so I know where to pick him up from tomorrow!"

A very pregnant, with her 3rd child, Mrs Uchiha waddled over and peered at Naru carefully. Suddenly she launched forward, embracing the girl in a hug "Oh my child, it's so nice to see Sasuke getting a girlfriend… and taking him on a date tomorrow too!"

Sasuke, who was by now Very red in the face, pulled his mother away from Naru and began spluttering about how that wasn't true.

Naru soon met Mr Uchiha and Sasuke's brother, Itachi, who both greeted her politely, if not a bit indifferently.

"Why don't you stay for dinner, dear?" Mrs Uchiha, who she been asked to call Mikoto, asked.

Naru, thinking of Mikoto's offer as a chance to put a hot meal in her belly, agreed – if albeit shyly and embarrassed.

Glancing at Naru's tattered and torn clothing she gathered the girl up, saying something about a nice dress.

As it turns out, Mikoto was expecting a baby girl and on her shopping trip to but the unborn child clothes, had gotten a little carried away and bought clothes all the way up to age 5.

Being a quite small and skinny for her age, whether the cause be genetics or her life on the streets, would fit right into clothes for 5 year old girls.

Mikoto stripped Naru bare, whose face was beet red as desperately tried to cover herself, and dumped her into a humongous bath tub.

She then proceeded to scrub Naru until the girl was rid of the years of dirt and grime that had built up as a result of no hygiene available to her and lathered Naru's hair with 3 layers of shampoo and conditioner.

After that, Mikoto gently dried Naru off and brushed her hair until it shined.

Mikoto knew exactly who Naru was and exactly what she contained but didn't care and thought the poor girl deserved some kindness in life.

She showed Naru into the room that had been prepared for her new arrival and told her to pick anything she wanted from the age 5 section in the wardrobe.

"Oh, I couldn't! You've been so kind already, Mrs Mikoto and I wouldn't want to be a burden…" Naru exclaimed.

"Nonsense child! Anything for Sasuke's little girlfriend" Mikoto smiled.

Having long since given up trying to convince Mikoto that she was not Sasuke's girlfriend, Naru reluctantly peered into the wardrobe.

She balked at all the beautiful clothing inside, even if most was for a newborn girl.

Even if Mikoto was expecting a girl, she had not filled the wardrobe with pink and sparkly outfits but instead every colour imaginable.

Naru wasn't colour blind nor was she unfashionable, she hadn't picked the ridiculously bright neon orange and ugly sack of a dress - that had quickly become dulled, ripped and stained with her own blood – on purpose but it was the only garment available to her, even if it was awfully overpriced.

She needed to pick something that worked for _her, _it needed to be light because it was warm in Konoha all year round, loose so she could grow, comfortable and movable.

Eventually, she settled for a loose sleeveless top - that around the neck line was white, on the chest was purple and the bit that floated out at the end was green –, a pair of long white shorts and as her feet were tiny she slipped into some white sneakers with green and purple stripes on the sides.

( fs28/f/2008/169/c/c/Blond_Girl_by_julia_ )

"_Smart girl" _Mikoto thought, seeing that Naru had chosen an outfit that was not only stylish (Of course it was stylish, she wouldn't have bought it if it hadn't been!) but appropriate for her hard lifestyle.

Being the expert she was at dressing people up, all this only took twenty minutes for Mikoto to do and 10 minutes for Naru to choose her outfit.

Mikoto led Naru downstairs, where she left her with Sasuke who was waiting in the living room doodling on a scrap of paper.

"That looks nice, Naru!" Sasuke smiled and Naru smiled back somewhat embarrassed at the compliment.

A soft, tinkling bell rang throughout the house and Sasuke stood up.

"Time for dinner, Naru" he said, guiding her through the many twists and turns in the Uchiha Estate until they reached the dining room.

Dinner passed far too quickly for Naru's liking as the food was delicious, even if she could only finish half the huge helping on her plate, and Sasuke's father and brother soon warmed up to her kind and cheerful personality making the whole evening a pleasant one.

Mikoto and Itachi mercilessly teased her and Sasuke about her being the first girl Sasuke's ever brought home, whilst Fugaku – she had learn was his name – looked on amusedly.

All too soon, it was time to go and Naru bid goodbye to the kind and welcoming Uchiha family and went on her way to find a warm and hopefully dry place to spent the night – and avoid the villagers.

When she finally did settle down for the night, her dreams were filled with the excitement and happiness at meeting a family who welcomed her, at having a new friend and at hopefully making her best friend in the whole world happy by bringing Sasuke to play with them and maybe be friends with them too – just like Sakura had always wanted!

Little did she know that her 'best friend in the whole world' was about to become her worst…


End file.
